TIP SLOVENIA: GOS CONVICTS TRAFFICKERS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 LJUBLJANA 000818

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR/NCE NORDBERG, EUR/PGI BUCKNEBERG, DRL/G/TIP

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUMPRELPGOV SI
SUBJECT: TIP SLOVENIA: GOS CONVICTS TRAFFICKERS

REF: LJUBLJANA 514


1. Summary. In 2006, the Government of Slovenia has made improving
its record on trafficking in persons (TIP) a priority. Bruised by
criticism in the 2006 TIP Report, the GOS re-invigorated the
interagency working group on TIP, repaired its relationships with
NGOs, and persisted in improving its record on Prosecution,
Protection and Prevention. The GOS approved a one-year action plan
for 2007 in July 2006. In a welcome development, the Chief State
Prosecutor announced that five people have just been convicted and
sentenced to prison for trafficking in human beings. She reported
that a number of other TIP cases are in various stages of
investigation and prosecution. End Summary.


2. At a lunch hosted by COM, key players in the GOS fight against
TIP gathered to discuss progress made in indicting, prosecuting and
sentencing traffickers of human beings. Joining COM were newly
appointed MFA State Secretary Andrej Ster, State Prosecutor General,
Barbara Brezigar, National Coordinator for TIP, Sandi Curin,
President of the Court of Ljubljana, Vesna Pivk Pavlic, MFA POC on
TIP, Teja Valencic, and State Prosecutor (in charge of TIP
prosecutions,) Savica Pureber.


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FIRST TIP CONVICTIONS IN 5 YEARS
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3. The first piece of welcome news was that the Prosecutor's office
had had recent success in convicting and sentencing five
individuals, all Slovenes, accused of human trafficking. The crime
was committed in 1999 and indictment filed in 2001. It was a long
time coming, but the ultimate success can be attributed to the
tenacity and creativity of the prosecutor's office. In addition to
the work of the Prosecutor's office, Brezigar said the judge in the
case had formerly been a prosecutor, and therefore was well
acquainted with this class of crime. Purebar added there were
several more cases in the pipeline including one that involved a 72
year old woman (a trafficker) from Kranj, Slovenia's third largest
city.


4. The above case originally involved seven defendants. All were
charged with "abuse of prostitution" and three were additionally
charged with "forcing into slavery." Two defendants were charged
only with aiding and abetting and given 10 months in prison, and the
remaining five were sentenced to 2.5 to 5 years of imprisonment.
Since this case was opened in 2001, before the law against
trafficking existed in Slovenia, the prosecutor's office relied on
the abuse of prostitution and forcing into slavery statutes to
convict these criminals.

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RAISING PUBLIC AWARENESS
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5. MFA State Secretary Andrej Ster, a former Minister of Interior,
related this first conviction (in 5 years) to his experiences in
qualifying Slovenia for the visa waiver program. He said this one
achievement highlighted the success that could come from interagency
cooperation as it raised awareness, and importantly, set a
precedent. He added that with the police and NGOs, the GOS could
take advantage of this success to raise public awareness.


6. Curin agreed saying that the TIP interagency group planned a
press conference for the new year when it would present its new
Action Plan for 2007, highlight the success of the past year, and
discuss remaining challenges. Curin also reported that tenders for
victim care would be awarded by the end of the year, and in 2007
(and the start of a new budget cycle),they would let a tender for a
two year contract.

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INVOLVING THE JUDICIARY
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7. When conversation turned to efficiencies of the court system,
Judge Pivk Pavlic reported that under the GOS Lukenda Project
(reftel) 70 new judges had been hired. The majority of these judges
would be dealing with the thousands of civil cases clogging the
system, but she also expected several to work on criminal cases. In
a side conversation Pivk Pavlic expressed interest on behalf of her
court in learning more about trafficking in human beings and the
role of the courts. (Note: Post is hoping to draw speakers on this
issue to Slovenia in February. End Note)

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IMPROVING CURRICULUM
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8. The need for information, training and education about
trafficking in persons was the basis for a lively discussion of the

LJUBLJANA 00000818 002 OF 002


importance of getting this issue into the law curriculum. Brezigar
lamented, too, that when it came to human rights, the current cadre
of professors in the law faculty discussed them only as they applied
to protecting the rights of the defendant and not the victim,
something, she said, which makes it very difficult to keep offenders
in detention and hampers the court's ability to apply stiff
penalties.


9. Comment: Having high level decision makers (Ster, Brezigar,
Pivk Pavlic) at the table with the key implementers of the GOS
anti-TIP program (on prosecution) (Curin, Pureber, Valencic)
underscored to post that on the issue of TIP, and particularly on
prosecutions, communication flows easily and commitment is strong.
That said, the procedural and bureaucratic blockages of the system
mean the judicial process can be long and creativity is mandatory to
ensure the perpetrators receive punishment - and this may mean on
grounds other than trafficking. Post is also encouraged by the
renewed commitment we see cross-government to anti-TIP. National
Coordinator Curin was vocal, confident and energized about the 2007
program. The return of the MFA's Valencic to the group is another
welcome development (she had been out due to injury for six months
in 2006). We also heard at this meeting, as well as on the margins
of several events this season, that the inter-agency working group
has met at least six times this year and the NGOs, Kljuc and Karitas
are cooperating well on education and victim care issues. End
Comment.